Humans have long sought to retard the aging process. Today it is widely accepted that antioxidants, e.g., molecules that can retard oxidation of other molecules, may play a role in the aging process. As described by Ames, B. N., Shigenaga, M. K. & Hagen, T. M. (1993) Oxidants, Antioxidants, and the Degenerative Diseases of Aging, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA. 90: 7915-7922, oxidative stress is implicated in the aging process. Oxidative stress appears to result from too low levels of antioxidants or inhibition of antioxidant enzymes. Oxidative stress is believed to damage or kill cells, and may be a partial causation in the development of many chronic and degenerative diseases including cancer, heart disease, and neuronal degeneration such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's diseases. It is known that reactive oxygen species can damage biological molecules such as proteins, lipids, and DNA. Although the human body has developed a number of systems to eliminate free radicals from the body, the elimination process is not 100% efficient.
It is known in the art to test ORAC values, which values are considered to be a reliable parameter for measuring the antioxidant capacity of a food, drink or supplement. An oxygen radical absorbance capacity (ORAC) test method was initially developed by the U.S. Dept. of Agriculture Research Service in Boston, Mass. to quantify antioxidants that can prevent formation of reactive oxygen species (ROS). More specifically, ORAC values are determined by comparatively measuring antioxidant activity and peroxyl radicals. These measurements indicate how many free peroxyl radicals can be absorbed by a given antioxidant. These data are compared to a standard, e.g., a water-soluble vitamin E analog (Trolox) standard.
It is also known in the art to test ORAC values by extracting antioxidants present in a sample, and then adding a fluorescent probe and a free radical generator to the extract. The fluorescence intensity decay of the fluorescent probe over time in the presence of the sample is determined. One can then calculate the antioxidant capacity of the sample based upon fluorescence intensity decay of the probe in the presence of the sample. As noted, ORAC is usually reported as micro mole Trolox Equivalents (TE) per gram or as TE/g.
Based on the most current dietary recommendations by the U.S. Dept. of Agriculture, research suggests that 3,000 to 5,000 ORAC units/day should be provided by food and/or supplements to have a significant impact on plasma and tissue antioxidant capacity. However, the daily diet consumed by the majority of the U.S. population does not provide adequate antioxidant protection. Some exemplary ORAC scores for common vegetables and fruits are as follow, where the units are μmol TE/g: raw watermelon 1.42, raw carrots 6.66, raw orange juice 7.2, raw bananas 8.79, raw apricots 11.15, raw white or green grapes 11.18, brewed green tea 12.53, raw red grapes 12.60, commercial reduced fat milk 12.63, raw alfalfa sprouts 15.10, red grape juice 17.88, pumpernickel bread 19.63, raw Fiji apples with skin 25.89, raw figs 33.83, red table wine 38.73, raw plums 62.59, fresh peppermint 139.78, raw ginger root 148.40, cranberry extract 151, pecan nuts 179.40, crude rice bran 242.87, yellow mustard seed 292.57, green tea powder 814, black tea powder 927, sorghum 1008.00, vitamin E 1,200, chockberry extract 2,087, ground cloves 3,144.46, raw sumac bran 3124.00, bilberry extract 4,800, and vitamin C 5,000.
It will be appreciated from the above that consuming the recommended 3,000 to 5,000 ORAC units daily can be challenging. While consuming 4.2 g of vitamin E, or 1 g of vitamin C can supply 5,000 ORAC units, in general most diets fall substantially short of the recommended 3,000 to 5,000 ORAC units per day. Simply stated, there is no single supplement or food that can provide ORAC values in the 10,000 μmol TE/g range, let alone ORAC values in the range of at least about 10,000 μmol TE/g to about 30,000 μmol TE/g.
Thus there is a need for a process by which food stuffs and nutritional dietary antioxidant supplements can be produced with exceedingly high ORAC values in the range of at least about 10,000 μmol TE/g to about 30,000 μmol TE/g. Preferably the raw input material for such process should be commonly available and trusted by the public at large, grapes, for example. Further, the produced high ORAC value food stuffs and nutritional supplements should be substantially neutral in taste, readily soluble, and available in liquid and/or powdered form. Finally, the process should allow for tailoring the ORAC value of the food stuff and nutritional supplement being produced.
The present invention provides such a process, as well as exceedingly high ORAC value food stuffs and nutritional dietary antioxidant supplements produced by such process.